Advocate blames police for beating "New Armenia" activists

Tigran Airapetyan, an advocate of "New Armenia" activists, finds it necessary to conduct a medical examination of injuries, received by protesters on the New Year's Night.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that at night on January 1, law enforcers did not allow one of the participants of the sit-in picket in the centre of Yerevan, dressed as a New Year Tree, to go to Freedom Square. The incident triggered a clash, as a result of which policemen detained five activists. Gagik Egiazaryan, a member of the Front, has stated that ten activists received bodily injuries; and one of them – Sevak Manukyan – a member of the Joint Staff of the Opposition, received a concussion and was hospitalized.

The participants of the sit-in picket in Freedom Square complain that policemen aggressively attacked them with no reason, exposed to violence and inflicted a lot of injuries, Tigran Airapetyan told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to the advocate, he tried to convey a statement on the use of violence by policemen against seven activists to the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO), but because of the holidays, there was nobody to take it at the GPO.

Nevertheless, the advocate believes it necessary to immediately make a decision on a medical examination.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.